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Thursday, December 19, 2013

Who says that hearts are just for
Valentine’s Day? When turned upside down, a heart can also be a
Santa face. While I’m sure there is no shortage of Santa cookie cutters this
time of year, hearts are always in season—you may even have a heart in your collection
already. This is a cute and creative way to transform plain old sugar cookies into
sweet, smiling versions of the jolly old elf we all know and love.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Everybody
already knows that you can’t go wrong with anything that is potato. Put two
favorite potato side dishes like potato skins and mashed potatoes together and
it’s just double amazing. Topped with crispy chorizo and chopped chives, these
mini twice baked potatoes are a pass around snack that no one will want to pass
up.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

I
love polenta. It’s simple peasant food and it’s very versatile. It can be
dressed up or dressed down, slopped onto a plate, or chilled and cut into
various shapes for a pretty presentation. One of my favorite ways to enjoy
polenta is grilled. It’s an easy way to incorporate flavor as the char and
smokiness pair naturally well with cornmeal. I planned on grilling these but
ended up sprinkling the tops with grated parmigiano reggiano and hitting them
with a flame from above, broiling them instead. Which, BTW, loosely translates
to, “It was too cold outside to grill.” Grill them if you please, but the
golden, crispy, cheese crust that results from broiling is a pretty delicious
alternative.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

Though
these white chocolate truffles sparkle like gems, they act more like
firecrackers. One bite into the smooth, delicate white chocolate ganache and
you are quickly surprised with the familiar snap, crackle, and pop of Pop Rocks
candy. Like bubbles of champagne, this sweet indulgence is fit for a
celebration, which works perfectly because it just so happens to be my birthday
this weekend.

Friday, November 1, 2013

These
spicy stuffed cherry peppers are a revisit from one of the first posts I ever
wrote for my blog Cook’s Book.
They and all of the things they are composed of—provolone, spicy sopressata,
garlic—are truly among my absolute favorite things. Inspired by an Italian deli
counter staple I have enjoyed for ages, to me they are a perfect food, which is
why I believe they deserve another chance in the spotlight.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Drunken
Cracker Jacks. That is the best way to describe this mixture of spiked caramel
coated popcorn and peanuts. It’s like the sailor on the Cracker Jack box had a
little too much to drink and the prize is that he was drinking whiskey.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

If
there was ever a way to make pierogi better, this is it. Pieorgi, half moon-shaped
potato dumplings, are a perfect comfort food; with a little browned butter
sauce and a little sour cream on top, you’re set with a meal that tastes like
it’s straight out of somebody’s grandmother’s kitchen. Panko breading and deep-frying
add even more “comfort” to the traditional recipe, transforming the dumplings
into crispy hand pies that are great for snacking and sharing.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

I’ve
been on the lookout for fava beans just to make this bruschetta recipe, so when
I finally spotted the massive pods at the store I scooped them up as fast as I
could.I had a vision of bright healthy
green beans piled on a crostini and simply no other bean would do. Favas deliver
an idyllic blend of nutty taste, buttery texture, and beautiful lime green
color that requires very little doctoring. But favas are not the kind of bean
you can just pop out of the pod and into your mouth; some work is required to
get to the prize inside.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Fall
is officially upon us, which means that it’s all pumpkin everything from here
until the last turkey is carved. Yes, there will be plenty of pumpkin muffins,
pumpkin beers, and pumpkin whoopie pies to get excited about, but let’s not
forget about everyone’s other favorite fall food—apples! While many can’t wait
to get their hands on the first pumpkin latte of the season, I look forward to
the sweet flavor and mulled spice aroma of warm apple cider.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

For
those who love spicy, sriracha is an amazing and limitless condiment. The Thai
red chili and garlic sauce has an addictive quality to it, starting off sweet
then quickly sneaking up on you with its signature spice. It’s great on
everything from eggs, to noodles, to fish and meat. It can be used in a
marinade, added to a broth, whisked into a dressing, or mixed with mayonnaise
for a delicious spread. Just like any other hot sauce, the possibilities are
endless; but with a following of dedicated fans, sriracha has taken on a life
all its own.

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

A
so-called meatball should probably have
some meat in it, but I’d say eggplant is like the meat of the vegetable world.
Eggplant is versatile, hearty and substantial—it’s meaty. It’s one of the only
vegetables that can stand alone as an entire meal for non-vegetarians like me. Grilled,
fried, layered in eggplant parmesan, rolled up neatly for eggplant rollatini,
or presented in the wonderfully dippable ways of babaganoush and caponata, aubergine
is the star of so many of my favorite dishes and snacks. And I’ve just added
these eggplant chickpea meatballs to the list.

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Flatbread
is pretty much another way of saying thin crust pizza. There’s traditional flatbread
like pita and Indian naan, and then there is the flatbread that many of the restaurants
are serving these days, which is dough that’s (usually) baked with different
toppings. Now what would you call that? It looks like pizza, it’s made like
pizza, it even kind of tastes like pizza. Well, apparently it’s flatbread. The
main difference that I can justify is that one is a meal and the other is smaller and thought
of as more of an appetizer.

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

There’s this funny thing that happens whenever people find out that I went to culinary school or that I like to cook; they always ask, “What’s your specialty?” and I never have a straight answer to give. I think about that answer often because I really do feel stupid when I can’t come up with something better than a rambling of one or two cuisines and some random dishes. Really, I just like to cook. Honest. I’ll cook anything.

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Welcome
to The Picky Stuff. I don’t mean picky as in choosy, I’m talking about the fun
little snacks that everyone loves to pick on. From chips and dips to sliders
and miniature meals stacked on skewers and toothpicks, this blog is dedicated to
all of the bite-sized samples of deliciousness that keep us coming back for
seconds and thirds. Whether you call them hors d’oeuvres, meze, tapas, cicchetti,
amuse bouche, or cocktail party snacks, it’s all picky stuff to me.

I’m a cook
with formal training from the Culinary Institute of America. I love to write
and share my recipes, but most of all I like to have fun in the kitchen—and what
could be more fun than picky stuff? Creating big flavors and petite presentations make it exciting to both eat and prepare. If you ask me, the picky stuff is the best
part of a meal, if not an entire awesome picky meal in itself.

If it’s perfect
for picking, you’ll find it here. Consider it our virtual cocktail party. You
bring the cocktails and I’ll bring the food.